


A Hilltop Manor (And not the one you're thinking of)

by Moonlight22oa



Series: Jason Todd, Spy Extraordinaire [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: (of injury), Adventure, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Angst, Attempt at Humor, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Good Older Sibling Jason Todd, Graphic Description, Humor, Minor Injuries, NO CAPES, Non-Graphic Violence, Protective Jason Todd, Secret Organizations, Spies & Secret Agents, sorta crack I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:42:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27325990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlight22oa/pseuds/Moonlight22oa
Summary: Jason Todd, a secret agent working for an organisation called ESO, is dispatched on his most high risk mission yet...
Relationships: Background Tim Drake/Kon-El | Connor Kent, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Series: Jason Todd, Spy Extraordinaire [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995058
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	A Hilltop Manor (And not the one you're thinking of)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story i wrote for my english class, i changed a shitload of it bc i can and changed it to a batfam fic. enjoy jehfhahfsj

Jason Todd didn’t exactly know the sequence of events that led to him becoming a spy and informant for an underground organization, but it sure paid off in the long run. 

The organisation, ESO, specialised in creating fake identities and hiding people. They could fabricate any document and forge new identities that were so realistic, it was damn near impossible to prove the people didn’t exist. Jason started working there four years ago, aged 19, after being presumed dead and needing a new identity, working there in return.

That’s how he found himself walking through the halls of ESO’s base, located in an abandoned part of Gotham City, on his way to a debriefing. He hadn’t had a mission in a while so he was curious as to what it was about. 

His calf high boots thumped onto the tiles of the empty corridors, the mission room just in sight. _Stomp, stomp, stomp_. Jason stared up at the mahogany door then took a deep breath, pushing it open and walking in.

“Jason, glad you could join us.” 

He sent a grin to Dick, his mission handler and basically-big-brother, as he sat heavily in one of the chairs surrounding the messy meeting desk and kicked his legs up. 

“Wha’s this about?” He questioned, picking up a random file and flicking through it.

Dick snatched the file back with a playful glare and placed it on the table, walking back to the head and clicking a button to project a powerpoint onto the screen behind him. “Have you ever heard of Digsby Yates?” He asked. 

He nodded, “That rich piece o’ shit that’s obsessed with revealing all our secrets?” 

“Yeah, him. Three day ago, he was doing his weekly search to figure us out when he saw that there was an inconsistency in someone's file; so now he’s onto us.” 

“Fuck,” Jason swore, “So now it’s my job to throw ‘im off?”

He clicked to the next slide; it boldly proclaimed ‘FUCK WITH HIM’ in big bold red Comic Sans. “Exactly.”

“Okay, what’s the game plan?” 

The next slide was a bunch of convoluted bullet points and maps and rambling that he couldn’t quite understand, but Dick explained in great detail. (He made sure to write down the plan so as to not forget anything.)

He would be disguised as ‘John’, a business major hoping to find work with his staff. He’d then use his position to gather information and pass it on to the organisation. It seemed simple enough, but, as Murphy’s third law states, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. 

\---

A day later, he was driving up an empty road lined with trees towards the Yates mansion in a car rented out by ESO. He was on his way to a job interview, as Dick had informed him before he left the compound. He was to give the best answers possible to secure the job.

Jason parked his car a couple of minutes away on an empty road and got out, locking the door behind him and tucking the keys into his suit jacket.

He knocked on the door and was let in by a man wearing a traditional butler uniform, standing straight as a stick and informing him that somebody would come get him in a moment. He reminded him of Alfred, the guy that was seen around the base that no one could figure out the job of. They thought he might be Bruce Wanyne (the man in charge)’s butler, but no one could prove it. Alfred did give good advice when needed, and he made some good fucking tea, so Jason wasn’t gonna complain.

Walking in, he stared at the large room around him. The front room of the mansion could fit his entire apartment two times over with room to spare and was decorated with things that probably cost as much. He shook himself out of his thoughts, telling himself he had a job to do.

“Hello, are you Mr. John Martinez?” A peppy woman in a red suit jacket and black pencil skirt asked, “I’m Martha Stewart, I’ll be conducting your interview!” She smiled cheerily at Jason and stuck out a hand. 

“That’s me!” Jason answered with just as much (forced) enthusiasm and shook her hand firmly. 

“Great! Follow me!” 

Martha led him towards a door just off the main room. He took the time to glance around for possible exits and hidden areas, just in case. He knew that if he needed it, his partner, Tim, was just one button press away; though he wanted to do this himself for as long as he needed. 

“So,” Martha started as she sat him down, “Why do you want this job?” 

Jason sat up straight and looked her straight on, playing the part of an eager person looking for a job, “I think it will be beneficial for me and I’ve heard nothing but great things about it.”

“Beneficial for what?” 

They went back and forth for another twenty minutes, Martha asking questions like “What are your strengths?” or “Where did you hear about us?” and Jason answering with believable answers, but also stumbling on a few to seem a bit more believable. 

Martha concluded the interview with a cheerful smile and a promise to get back with him in eight to ten business days and showed him out. 

The car was right where he left it, a few streets down from the huge hilltop mansion and hidden behind a grove of trees. The only thing different was the person in the passenger seat. 

“Hey, Tim.” he greeted casually as he slid into the driver’s side. 

Tim looked up from his phone and grinned at him, feet up on the dashboard, “Hey Jay.” 

“What’re ya doin’ here?” He focused on pulling the car out of its parking spot as he talked, not once glancing at him. 

“Well,” He drawled, “I’m your partner.”

“I’m aware. What’re ya doin’ _here_ , in my car, right now.”

He put his phone down and turned to face him with a shrug, “I was bored.”

“So you decided to break into my car?” They were driving down the road now, trees flying past the windows.

Tim nodded, “Yeah, pretty much.”

“That’s fair.” He said, eyes fully on the road now that they were on a busier street, “I’m headin’ back to the compound now, you comin’ with?”

Tim picked his phone back up and unlocked it, presumably checking his schedule-or checking his texts, you never know with him. “Yeah, I’ll come.” He finally said after a good twenty seconds of silence.

“Awesome. Have ya read the brief for the mission?” He questioned. Tim had a habit of doing stuff on the fly and not reading up on what their missions are. 

He raised a hand to his chest in mock horror, “Jason, when the fuck have I ever let you down like that!”

Jason gave him a dry look, “Since we started workin’ together.”

“Okay, so maybe I didn’t read it for the Evergreen City mission, but it still worked out!” 

“Water Brown.” 

“That was _one fucking time!”_ Tim protested.

He raised an eyebrow, “Plouville ring any bells?”

“ _Two_ fucking times!”

They continued bickering the whole way back to the ESO compound, until they pulled into the garage and turned off the engine. 

From the outside, the compound looked like a typical abandoned building; three floors, broken windows, cracked walls. Everything you’d expect. The only difference was that once you got inside, it was bustling with life. People chatting with friends, on their way to mission rooms, filling in paperwork. It felt… homey. Jason liked it there. 

He and Tim walked through endless halls, waving at friends and talking about nothing of interest as they made their way to Dick’s room. 

Jason knocked on the door then pushed it open, slightly surprised to see other people in the room but masking it quickly.

“Dick.” He nodded, “I’ve finished the first part.”

The other two in the room looked curiously at him, they seemed to be new since he didn’t recognize their faces.

“Great!” Dick clapped, “I was just talking to these two newbies about how things work around here, you and Tim wanna to join us? Since you’ve been here for a while.”

He shrugged in affirmation and sat on the table, Tim next to him, talking to the two young adults about his job and stories about his adventures. A feeling in his chest warmed his core as they lit up in excitement and looked up at him like an older brother giving them advice. 

Dick took over after a while and Jason picked up a case file as they continued talking, knowing he wouldn’t stop for hours once he’d started

He sent Tim a look, telling him to get prepared. This mission was gonna get interesting. 

\-------

_“Are you ready?”_

“As I’ll ever be.”

Jason took a deep breath and left the car, Tim’s voice over his communicator explaining how he hacked into the mainframe of the mansion and had a copy of the blueprints open to guide him if needed.

Waiting by the door was Martha, the interviewer from a week ago. She welcomed him in and chattered the whole way through the complicated twists and turns that led to the area he’d be working in. Yates’s office. 

_“Remember,”_ Tim’s voice sounded as they got closer, _“Gather info, don’t raise suspicion, call if extraction is needed.”_

“I know, Tim. This isn’t my first rodeo.” He whispered exasperatedly. 

The desk he was assigned to was near the left wall of the huge room, around ten other people working in desks around him. Above his head, a loose vent was nestled into the wall, perfect for a quick escape if it was ever needed. 

Jason tucked a strand of long black hair behind his ear and scanned the room one more time. A door. There was a door in the opposite corner, barely half a meter tall and camouflaged almost completely into the wall. Where did that go?

“Tim, I think we have a lead…”

\--------

Rain pounded against surrounding windows. Howling wind shaking the foundation of the hilltop mansion. Rolling thunder reverberating through his body. _A horrible night for a heist,_ Jason thought as he crawled on his hands and knees through endless vents. 

_“Take the next left, then the second right.”_ Tim said through his comm. Silently, he prowled through the vents like a predator on a hunt. 

_“Middle.”_ He advised as Jason reached a fork. 

They continued that way for what felt like hours. The only sounds being the thunder, rain and wind, Tim’s calming voice and the squeaking of metal under his knees. Every thump put him on high alert. Every machine whirring made him freeze. This was one of the most important missions he ever had to do, and he was going to do it well. Even if it fucking kills him. 

_“There should be a vent on your ri-”_ Nothing. Tim’s voice had cut out. His quiet presence was replaced by buzzing static. 

“Tim?” Jason asked. “Are you there?”

When no reply came, he started panicking. Was he okay? Was it just storm interference? Was he caught? 

_Deep breaths, Jay._ He thought to himself, _Now is not the time to panic. He said to take the right vent._

Jason advanced for around ten more minutes, keeping his eyes on the right before eventually reaching a vent. He peered through the holes, examining the room beyond. The layout seemed familiar and, at closer inspection, he found it was the same one he had been in earlier that day. 

“Bingo..” He muttered, pushing open the cover and sliding down. 

His eyes darted from side to side, looking for anything he missed. The room was empty, as he’d expected. 

Letting out a sigh of relief, he tiptoed towards the tiny door. 

Just as he reached it, the floor behind him squeaked and he froze. “Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast, little boy.”

He spun around on him heel, stance defensive, one arm standing alert and the other reaching for the gun in his pocket. 

Digby Yates, the millionaire he was trying to stop from finding out about ESO, was sitting in a high backed rolling chair like a cliche movie villain. His eyes gleamed like the light shining onto his bald head, a smirk on his greasy face.

“Digby Yates.” he said flatly. His face betraying no emotion as he regarded him with an icy stare. 

“You must be the partner…” His voice was smooth, like he’d practised his Evil Villain Monologue in the mirror a million times. He waved his hand towards a door on the right side, one he hadn’t entered that morning, calling forward two security guards dressed in expensive suits. In their arms, they dragged in a person bound with rope and gagged. He looked up and caught Jason’s eye. 

_“Tim...”_ He muttered, eyes wide as they dumped him onto the floor. He was in pain. 

He examined every inch of him, searching for injuries. His breathing was laboured, like it physically hurt him to breath; he had bruises on his face and arms; dried blood stuck to exposed patches of skin; black hair a mess and flying all over the place. 

What the fuck had they done to his little brother?

“Let him go.” Jason growled, holding his ground and looking Yates straight in the eye.

He chuckled, a grating sound to his ears, “Now, why would I do that, little boy? He was assisting in a crime.”

“You don’t fucking _beat_ someone black 'n blue 'cause he was assistin' in a fucking _break in._ ” 

“Well, if you insist..” He waved his hand again and the two guards let go of Tim’s arms. He slumped down, eyes glazed, unmoving. 

In a split second, Jason shot forwards and pulled Tim behind him. He side-stepped towards the two guards and pressed hard on a trigger point on their necks, knocking them out cold. The only person left was Yates, looking much less confident now that his defense was gone. 

“Give it up, _Yates._ ” He threatened, standing in front of him, glaring down with his gun drawn and pointed at him. 

He regained his composure quickly, looking up at him with a disgusted look, “You may have beat me now, but I have proof your ‘secret organisation’ exists!”

“Sure, Jan.” He scoffed, “Do you think people are going to believe your word? It’s all hearsay.”

“I-I have camera footage!” Yates spluttered.

Jason rolled his eyes, “Ya think we didn’t loop ‘em? We’re not fucking _amateurs_ , Yates. Let me repeat. You. Have. No. _Proof._ ”

He walked backwards and carefully picked up Tim in his arms, making sure not to jostle him in case he had broken ribs, his gun sitting at his side in full view. “Bye bye, Mr. Yates. I hope I never see ya again. I won’ be as merciful next time.”

With those final words, he left the room through the door, locking it behind him, just in case. He took a back door to the tiny room with the files and took those with him too.

\-------

“Is he okay?”

It was the next day, Jason had gotten a few hours of sleep and a shower then sat at Tim’s bedside for the next few hours. He had been taken back to the ESO compound to get his wounds treated by the medical team there. Connor, Tim’s boyfriend, was sitting next to the bed with Tim’s hand in a death grip. 

The doctor in charge, Dr. Thompkins, gave them both a reassuring smile. “He’ll be okay. He’s a strong one,” She pat Jason’s on the back and wrote something on her clipboard. 

“Thank you,” Jason sighed with relief, locking eyes with Connor to show his empathy.

There was a knock on the door and Dick walked in, a worried look on his face. 

“Is Tim okay?” He asked, sitting on the chair next to him and putting an arm around his shoulder. 

He leaned slightly into the embrace of his older brother, “He will be. He has to.”

\-----

A few weeks later Tim would be walking around fine, overprotective friends and boyfriend not letting him exert himself too much. He was confined to home for three months and eventually let into the field, completely healed. 

Digby Yates never gave them any other problems, but there were other people out there wanting to unmask them. Who knows, maybe one day the government itself would be knocking at their front door. 

Until that day, Jason would relish in the comfortable chaos of his job and surrounding himself with siblings.

**Author's Note:**

> don't ask me what ESO stands for. it doesn't stand for anything. it's basically me reclaiming the name of a fictional org that tormented us in a discord roleplay server for a hot minute 
> 
> Thanks for reading! I'm turning this into a series of unrelated one-shots of different characters, so if u have a prompt u want to see then pls comment!


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